Differences in lower extremity stiffness between endurance-trained athletes and untrained subjects.
An understanding of lower extremity stiffness is important for evaluation of sports performance and injury prevention. The aim of this study was to investigate whether stiffness regulation during hopping differed between endurance-trained athletes and untrained subjects. Eight endurance-trained athletes and eight untrained subjects performed two-legged hopping at 2.2 Hz. We determined leg and joint stiffness of hip, knee and ankle from kinetic and kinematics data. The endurance-trained athletes demonstrated significantly higher leg stiffness than untrained subjects. Further, the differences in leg stiffness were attributable to differences in ankle and knee joint stiffness. This study demonstrates a possibility that endurance training, like power training, increases leg and joint stiffness.
Hobara
Hiroaki
H
Graduate School of Human Sciences, Waseda University, Japan. hobara@rehab.go.jp
Kimura
Kozo
K
Omuro
Kohei
K
Gomi
Kouki
K
Muraoka
Tetsuro
T
Sakamoto
Masanori
M
Kanosue
Kazuyuki
K
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000843:Ankle Joint / Q000502:physiology*; D054874:Athletic Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D005080:Exercise Test; D006621:Hip Joint / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000502:physiology*; D035002:Lower Extremity / Q000502:physiology; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology*; D010807:Physical Endurance / Q000502:physiology; D012420:Running / Q000502:physiology; D014495:Universities; D014741:Video Recording; D055815:Young Adult